That's what it's all about

Category: Vegetarian

What makes this earthy? The “sprouted lentils” is certainly it. I accidentally stumbled upon sprouted lentils when I realized I hydrated too many dried lentils for another recipe. I left them in the fridge and next thing I knew there were sprouts! They’ve lasted a couple weeks now. To keep them sprouted, I spray a bit of water and toss them a bit.

Sprouted Lentils

Since I have no idea what to do with all these I’ve been using them in a variety of recipes as a test. I’ve read that, once sprouted, they are easier to digest because the complex sugars break down.

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No words except, yum! The toddler was away and we didn’t feel like eating dinner, so this was our snack when we got hungry last night.

When you want to sit back, relax and watch a movie, this is where’s it at. The lights were a little dim so it looks gray in scale. The bread was homemade by my hubby. He MASTERED bread making after watching a Netflix series about the origins of cooking. The cheeses are two different kinds. On the left is a French cheese called Isigny Ste Mere: Mimolette Semi Vieille. It was amazing with the bread and my favorite combo. The one on the right was a mild NY cheddar.

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Start the day off right with this easy, DELICIOUS breakfast. I just love breakfast…I really do. If I had to choose I’d say it’s my favorite meal of the day. This breakfast takes 5 minutes to make and is super easy. Don’t be afraid of poaching an egg. Just simmer some water, add a tablespoon of vinegar, stir the water and gently place the egg in. Cook 2 – 3 minutes depending on how easy or hard boiled you like them.

Start by making the avocado cream and mash a ripe avocado in a small bowl:

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I made this for all my vegan and vegetarian friends and family. Not all meals have to have meat and some taste even better without it. If you are a carnivore, just give this a try and you’ll realize what I mean. Look at the vibrant colors! You see onions and red, yellow and purple bell peppers.

Add the carrots for some orange…

Put everything together…

I’m really enjoying a local farm stand this summer that’s right down the road from me. All ingredients came from there and I believe one of the reasons this dish tasted so delicious. The fresher the better!

Serves 8

What you’ll need:

1 cup each dry black and pinto beans, rehydrated according to the instructions (or use canned beans and will equal about 3 cups total after draining)

2 ears corn (or 1 can of corn)

2 carrots, diced

1 onion, diced

3 large garlic cloves, chopped small

3 bell peppers, largely diced

3 fresh tomatoes, diced

13 oz can of diced tomatoes

3 oz Tom paste

28oz can tomato sauce

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp cinnamon

1 bay leaf

1 tsp ground mustard

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp chili powder

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

2 Tbls olive oil

Pink Himalayan Salt

Fresh ground black pepper

2 jalapeños, roasted and diced small for garnish

red onion, diced small for garnish

cilantro or parsley, for garnish

What to do:

If you’re using the dried beans like I did, you’ll need to start this the night before or follow the instructions for the quick cook.

In a large cast iron Dutch oven, heat the olive oil on medium.

Sautée the onions and bell peppers with some salt and pepper about 5 minutes until slightly soft.

Reduce the heat to medium low and add the the carrots and garlic. Sautée another 5 minutes stirring frequently.

Add the fresh tomatoes, a little more salt and pepper, stir and simmer until you see the liquid expel from the tomatoes.

Boil the corn, let cool, slice off with a knife and add to the pot.

Add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and paste, stir until combined and add all the spices and nutritional yeast. Reduce the heat to low and stir again.

Simmer on the lowest heat for an hour to hour and a half stirring occasionally.

Serve in a bowl with the garnishes listed or whatever you choose. Feel free to add some hot sauce for some heat if you don’t do the jalapeños 😉

Side note: You can roast your own jalapeños directly on your stove top. Be sure to char all sides, let cool, peel the char and diced away. Very simple and can be done with any kind of peppers.

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Talk about a versatility…this sauce is the epitome of it. You can put this on top of tacos, eggs, salads as your dressing, dip, you name it.

What you see above is the Verde Sauce on top of a salad I threw together with the various things I had in my refrigerator. I also had left over shredded pork from pork tacos the night before (which also had verde on it 😉) that you see on top.

The pork tacos were quasi tacos because I’m really trying to cut carbs and sugar from my diet. I used Boston Bib lettuce for the wrap but a mini romaine lettuce would also be perfect. The recipe for the pork is here. I topped everything with tomatoes, avocado, red onion, fresh cilantro, carrots, and a little extra salt and pepper to the pork.

As for the Verde Sauce itself…

What you’ll need (and remember I make in bulk to freeze some for future so feel free to cut it in half):

18 Tomatillos

2 jalapeños

4 cloves of garlic

Juice of one lime

fresh cilantro to taste

S & P

What to do:

Boil a pot of water that will hold tomatillos and jalapeños.

Remove the husks off the tomatillos and run them under water until clean. Also, clean the jalapeños.

Boil the tomatillos and jalapeños for 10 minutes and strain.

Place them in a food processor with the remaining ingredients.

Pulse until smooth.

Use it for whatever you want and enjoy!

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I’m all about pasta this weekend! I used Simply Balanced Organic Trottole Pasta for this recipe. It’s a fun shape and all the good stuff you add to a pasta salad incorporates well into it. You can pretty much use any type of pasta for this dish if you can’t find this type. Some good alternatives would be farfalle, penne or even multi colored radiatore! Remember to always salt your water when boiling pasta!!

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Well, it’s been a while since my last post. I guess I’ve been busy!! I’m really glad summer is here. There are so many healthy and yummy things to eat this season. Here is one of them, although, I make them year round 🙂 This is great for vegetarians and could even be converted to […]